A method for taking an electronic component out of a carrier tape configured to house the electronic component in a concave that is defined by a sidewall and a bottom surface reduces a binding force applied by the concave to the electronic component by stretching the sidewall to outside near a perforation hole that is formed at least one of the sidewall and a portion of the bottom surface adjacent to the sidewall.
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1. A method to take an electronic component out of a carrier tape configured to house the electronic component in a concave that is defined by a sidewall and a bottom surface, the method comprising:
reducing a binding force applied by the concave to the electronic component by stretching the sidewall to outside near a perforation hole that is formed in a portion of the bottom surface adjacent to the sidewall in the concave,
wherein the reducing engages a hook tool with the perforation hole and moves the hook tool so as to stretch the sidewall to the outside.
2. A mount unit configured to take an electronic component out of a carrier tape that houses the electronic component in a concave defined by a sidewall and a bottom surface, and to mount the electronic component onto a printed board, the mount unit comprising:
a binding-force reducer configured to reduce a binding force applied by the concave to the electronic component by stretching the sidewall to outside near a perforation hole that is formed in a portion of the bottom surface adjacent to the sidewall in the concave and
an absorption nozzle configured to absorb a top surface of the electronic component opposite to a bottom surface of the electronic component which is opposite to the bottom surface of the concave,
wherein the binding-force reducer includes a hook tool configured to engage with the perforation hole and to stretch the sidewall to the outside.
3. A method for taking an electronic component out of a carrier tape configured to house the electronic component in a concave that is defined by sidewalls and a bottom surface, the method comprising:
reducing a binding force applied by the concave to the electronic component by stretching the sidewalls to outside near perforation holes formed at portions of the bottom surface adjacent to the sidewalls opposing each other,
wherein the reducing inserts a pair of tools each of which has a tapered surface into the perforation holes respectively and stretches the sidewalls to the outside via the tapered surfaces, and the reducing brings the pair of tools into contact with a bottom surface of the electronic component opposite to the bottom surface of the concave and moving the pair of tools in a direction in which a bottom surface of the electronic component can be separated from the bottom surface of the concave.
4. A mount unit configured to take an electronic component out of a carrier tape that houses the electronic component in a concave defined by sidewalls and a bottom surface, and to mount the electronic component onto a printed board, the mount unit comprising:
a binding-force reducer configured to reduce a binding force applied by the concave to the electronic component by stretching the sidewalls to outside near perforation holes formed at portions of the bottom surface adjacent to the sidewalls opposing each other; and
an absorption nozzle configured to absorb a top surface of the electronic component opposite to a bottom surface of the electronic component which is opposite to the bottom surface of the concave,
wherein the binding-force reducer includes a pair of tools each of which has a tapered surface configured to stretch the sidewalls to the outside, the pair of tools being configured to insert into the perforation holes respectively and contact a bottom surface of the electronic component and to move in a direction in which the bottom surface of the electronic component can be separated from the bottom surface of the concave.
5. The method of
removing the electronic component from the concave of the carrier tape.
6. The method of
7. The method of
8. The method of
10. The method of
supplying wind to a part around the perforation hole, heat around the perforation hole, or irradiate light onto part around the perforation hole, so as to stretch the sidewall to the outside.
11. The mount unit of
12. The mount unit of
13. The mount unit of
14. The mount unit of
15. The mount unit of
17. The method of
supplying wind to a part around the perforation hole, heat around the perforation hole, or irradiate light onto part around the perforation hole, so as to stretch the sidewall to the outside.
18. The mount unit of
19. The mount unit of
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This application is a continuation that claims the benefit of International Application No. PCT/JP2007/061876, filed Jun. 13, 2007, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a carrier tape that has a concave (also referred to as an “emboss,” “pocket,” or “cavity”) configured to accommodate an electronic component, and more particularly to a method for taking an electronic component out of a carrier tape.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is conventionally known that an electronic component that has been housed in a resin carrier tape and carried to a mount position is taken out by an absorption nozzle of a mount unit and mounted onto a printed (circuit) board. It is necessary for an electronic component that is a chip component to align electrodes of the chip component with footprints on the printed board and thus to maintain a high positioning precision of the electronic component to the printed board. In order to prevent easy movements of the electronic component in the concave of the carrier tape, it is necessary to maintain an interval of about 0.2 mm between the side surface of the concave and the electronic component. When the electronic component rotates in the concave under this fine interval, the lower side surfaces of the electronic component are held and positioned in the concave. The resin carrier tape provides a binding force as an elastic force to the electronic component.
As the binding force to the electronic component in the cavity is increased, the binding force may exceed the absorption force by the absorption nozzle and the electronic component cannot become regularly taken out of the carrier tape. As a result, a yield of the mount may lower due to the absorption error. An increase of the absorption force by the absorption nozzle is undesirable, because the electronic component receives an excessive load and may get damaged.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. (“JP”) 11-59725 proposes a method for reducing a binding force by providing a cross slit to the center of the bottom surface of the carrier tape. JPs 11-59776 and 09-169386 propose a carrier tape in which each side of its bottom surface has a slit.
However, simply providing the slit does not significantly reduce the binding force by the carrier tape to the electronic component. Thus, it is conventionally difficult to mitigate the binding force in taking the electronic component out of the carrier tape.
The present invention provides a method for stably taking an electronic component out of a carrier tape.
A method according to one aspect of the present invention for taking an electronic component out of a carrier tape configured to house the electronic component in a concave that is defined by a sidewall and a bottom surface includes the step of reducing a binding force applied by the concave to the electronic component by stretching the sidewall to outside near a perforation hole that is formed at least one of the sidewall and a portion of the bottom surface adjacent to the sidewall. This method maintains the positioning precision of the electronic component by maintaining the binding force applied by the concave to the electronic component until the electronic component is taken out, and facilitate the takeout by reducing the binding force just before the electronic component is taken out. Thereby, both maintaining of the positioning precision of the electronic component in the carrier tape and mitigating of the binding force at the time of takeout can be reconciled.
The perforation hole may be formed in the portion of the bottom surface adjacent to the sidewall in the concave. In that case, the step may engage a hook tool with the perforation hole and move the hook tool so as to stretch the sidewall to the outside. The hook tool stretches the portion of the concave which applies the binding force, and can facilitate the takeout. The step may insert a tool having a tapered surface into the perforation hole and stretch the sidewall to the outside via the tapered surface. In addition, the step may bring the tool into contact with a bottom surface of the electronic component opposite to the bottom surface of the concave and move the tool in a direction in which the electronic component can be separated from the bottom surface of the concave. The tapered surface stretches the concave and moves the electronic component, facilitating the takeout. The step may supply wind, heat or light to part around the perforation hole to stretch the sidewall to the outside. The wind, heat, and light stretch the portion of the concave which applies the binding force, and can facilitate the takeout.
A manufacturing method of an electronic unit according to another aspect of the present invention includes the steps of moving a printed board to a mount position, reducing a binding force applied by a concave of a carrier tape configured to house an electronic component in the concave that is defined by a sidewall and a bottom surface, by stretching the sidewall to outside near a perforation hole that is formed at least one of the sidewall and a portion adjacent to the sidewall, and taking the electronic component out of the carrier tape and soldering the electronic component onto the printed board. The manufacturing method of the electronic unit facilitates the takeout of the electronic component through the binding-force reducing step.
A mount unit according to still another aspect of the present invention is configured to take an electronic component out of a carrier tape that houses the electronic component in a concave defined by a sidewall and a bottom surface, and to mount the electronic component onto a printed board. The mount unit includes a binding-force reducer configured to reduce a binding force applied by the concave to the electronic component by stretching the sidewall to outside near a perforation hole that is formed at least one of the sidewall and a portion of the bottom surface adjacent to the sidewall, and an absorption nozzle configured to absorb a top surface of the electronic component opposite to a bottom surface of the electronic component which is opposite to the bottom surface of the concave. According to this mount unit, the binding-force reducer reduces the binding force and facilitates the absorption of the electronic component by the absorption nozzle, preventing a deterioration of a yield, which is caused by the absorption error.
The perforation hole may be formed in the portion of the bottom surface adjacent to the sidewall in the concave. In that case, the binding-force reducer may include a hook tool configured to engage with the perforation hole and to stretch the sidewall to the outside. The hook tool stretches the portion of the concave which applies the binding force, and can facilitate the takeout. The binding-force reducer may include a tool having a tapered surface configured to stretch out the sidewall. The tool may be configured to contact a bottom surface of the electronic component and to move in a direction in which the bottom surface of the electronic component can be separated from the bottom surface of the concave. The tapered surface stretches the concave and moves the electronic component, facilitating the takeout. The binding-force reducer may include a blower configured to supply wind to part around the perforation hole, a heater configured to heat around the perforation hole, or a light irradiator configured to irradiate light onto part around the perforation hole, so as to stretch the sidewall to the outside. The wind, heat, and light stretch the portion of the concave which applies the binding force, and can facilitate the takeout.
A assembly line apparatus according to still another aspect of the present invention includes a supply mechanism configured to supply a carrier tape that is configured to house an electronic component in a concave defined by a sidewall and a bottom surface, and a mount unit configured to take the electronic component out of the carrier tape and to mount the electronic component onto a printed board, said mount unit including a binding-force reducer configured to reduce a binding force applied by the concave to the electronic component by stretching the sidewall to outside near a perforation hole that is formed at least one of the sidewall and a portion of the bottom surface adjacent to the sidewall. This assembly line apparatus exhibits an operation similar to that of the above mount unit.
Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
Referring now to
The carrier tape 10 is used to house, hold, and carry the electronic component 1. The electronic component 1 of this embodiment is a chip component 5 mm square. However, a type and size of the electronic component 1 are not limited, and the electronic component 1 may include an electronic component such as a semiconductor device, a resistor, and a capacitor. The electronic component 1 has a bottom surface 2 that faces a bottom surface 24 of a concave 20 of the carrier tape 10, a top surface 4 that is a back of the bottom surface 2, and four side surfaces 6 between the bottom surface 2 and the top surface 4. The top surface 4 is closer to a top surface 12 of the carrier tape 10 than the bottom surface 2.
The carrier tape 10 has a base 11 and a concave 20. The carrier tape 10 is made of resin in this embodiment, has an elastic force.
The base 11 is a stripe member that extends in the X direction while the top surface 12 faces the upside of the Z direction, as shown in
The concave 20 serves as the conventional emboss. Each of a plurality of concaves 20 is formed at the center of the base 11 in the Y direction as a width direction. The centers C of the plurality of concaves 20 are arranged on the same straight line, which is parallel to the X direction and accords with the centerline of the base 11 which is also parallel to the X direction. The concave 20 is formed in the base 11 by molding or pressing.
Each concave is used to house and hold one electronic component 1, and sealed by a cover (not shown). The concave 20 is defined by two pairs of sidewalls 22 and one bottom surface 24, as shown in
In this embodiment, angles θ formed between the top surface 12 of the base 11 and the pair of sidewalls 22a are equal to each other and set to 90° or larger. Similarly, angles θ formed between the top surface 12 of the base 11 and the pair of sidewalls 22b are equal to each other and set to 90° or larger. However, the present invention allows these angles to be different from each other. This angle θ is an inclination necessary to form the concave 20 through molding. The sidewall 22 may be a tapered surface, as shown in
The concave 20 of this embodiment has a trapezoidal section along the X or Y direction. In other words, the concave 20 has a prismoid shape. However, the present invention does not limit the shape of the concave 20, and the concave 20 may be a truncated cone or a truncated polygon-moid shape.
In order to protect the electronic component 1, a depth D of the concave 20 in the Z direction is larger than a corresponding height H of the electronic component 1 in the Z direction. A length L of the prismoid of the concave 20 on the top surface 12 side in the X direction is larger than a corresponding length of the electronic component 1 in the X direction, and a length on the bottom surface 24 side in the X direction is or slightly longer (by about 0.2 mm) than a corresponding length of the electronic component 1 in the X direction. A length Wa of the prismoid of the concave 20 on the top surface 12 side in the Y direction is larger than a corresponding length Wb of the electronic component 1 in the Y direction, and a length Wc on the bottom surface 24 side in the Y direction is slightly longer (by about 0.2 mm) than a corresponding length Wb of the electronic component 1 in the Y direction. When the electronic component 1 slightly rotates in the concave 20, a hatched lower portion 7 of the side surface 6 of the electronic component 1 near the bottom surface 2 receives an elastic force or a binding force from a lower portion 23 of the sidewall 22 near the bottom surface 24. In this embodiment, the lower portion 7 on one of side surfaces 6 receives the binding force from one of the sidewalls 22a and 22b among the four sidewalls 22, which has a smaller difference between the length of the electronic component 1 and the length of the concave 20 on the bottom surface 24 side.
This binding force fixes the electronic component 1 in the concave 20 and hinders the absorption by the absorption nozzle configured to pick up the electronic component 1 at the absorption position after the carrier tape 10 moves to the absorption position of the electronic component 1. Therefore, this binding force provides originally unnecessary binding. When the electronic component 1 is a chip component, its both ends are provided with electrodes and the printed board is provided with corresponding footprints. In order to prevent positional shifts between them, the electronic component 1 needs a high positioning precision.
The bottom surface 24 opposes to and supports the bottom surface 2 of the electronic component 1. The bottom surface 24 has a similar rectangular shape to that of the bottom surface 2 of the electronic component 1. The bottom surface 24 has two pairs of perforation holes (or slits) 26 and 28. As shown in
As described later, a pair of perforation holes 26 are forced so that they can be separated from each other in an S1 direction shown in
The perforation holes 26 and 28 are provided so as to release the application of the binding force by the lower portion 23 of the sidewall 22. Therefore, it is provided adjacent to each sidewall 22. If the perforation holes 26 and 28 are provided near the center C of the bottom surface 24, the transmission efficiencies in the S1 and S2 directions lower. Thus, this embodiment sets a distance between the sidewall 22b and a part of the perforation hole 26 closest to the sidewall 22b to almost 0, and a distance between the sidewall 22a and a part of the perforation hole 28 closest to the sidewall 22a to almost 0.
While this embodiment provides the perforation holes 26 and 28 to the bottom surface 24, the perforation holes 26 and 28 may be provided to at least one of the sidewall 22 and the bottom surface 24.
Referring now to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring now to
Initially, the electronic component 1 is manufactured (step 1002). Next, the electronic component 1 is housed in the carrier tape 10 (step 1004). Next, the carrier tape 10 is wound around a reel 80 (step 1006). A component manufacturer performs these steps.
Next, the reel 80 is installed onto a tape feeder 85 (step 1008). The step 1008 and subsequent steps belong to an assembly line. In the transportation and treatment from the step 1006 to the step 1008, the electronic component 1 is likely to minutely rotate in the concave 20 and be fixed by the lower portion 23.
Separate from this electronic component, as shown in
Next, the printed board 62 is moved to a mount position and positioned, as shown in
Next, a mount unit 72 reduces the binding force to the electronic component 1 by the carrier tape 10 by stretching the sidewall 22 of the concave 20 to the outside near the perforation holes 26 and/or 28 (step 1018). Simultaneous with or just after the step 1018, the mount unit 72 picks up the electronic component 1 from the concave 20 of the carrier tape 10 (step 1020). The takeout is performed by an absorption nozzle 50 of the mount unit 72, and the inside of the absorption nozzle 50 is decompressed by an exhaust means (not shown). The absorption nozzle 50 absorbs the top surface 4 of the electronic component 1. A highly precise alignment is maintained between the electronic component 1 and the footprint 64 because the lower portion 23 of the sidewall 22 of the concave 20 maintains a position of the electronic component 1 to the absorption nozzle 50. The positioning of the electronic component is maintained by the concave 20 until the electronic component 1 is taken out, and the binding force just is reduced before the electronic component 1 is taken out. Thus, both maintaining of the positioning precision of the electronic component 1 in the carrier tape 10 and mitigating of the binding force at the time of takeout can be reconciled.
In this embodiment, the mount unit 72 has one of the first to fourth binding-force reducers 40A to 40D shown in
Next, the mount unit 72 places, on the printed board, 62 the electronic component 1 that has been taken out of the carrier tape 10, as shown in
Next, the printed board 62 is exhausted by a belt conveyer (not shown) (step 1022), introduced into a reflow furnace 74 and heated by another means for soldering (step 1026). Thereby, as shown in
Thereafter, a visual inspector 96 performs a visual inspection (step 1028), and the electronic unit 60 is mounted onto an electronic apparatus, such as a personal computer and a server and shipped, once it passes the visual inspection. On the other hand, the electronic component 1 that fails in the visual inspection is detached from the printed board 62, and a new electronic component 1 is attached.
While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
The present invention can provide a method for stably taking an electronic component out of a carrier tape.
Itoh, Masayuki, Nakashima, Tomokazu, Okazaki, Masako
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Dec 03 2009 | NAKASHIMA, TOMOKAZU | Fujitsu Limited | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 023946 | /0311 | |
Dec 03 2009 | ITOH, MASAYUKI | Fujitsu Limited | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 023946 | /0311 | |
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Dec 15 2009 | OKAZAKI, MASAKO | Fujitsu Limited | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 023946 | /0311 |
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